David Schiff

Road Maps - Mountains, Rivers, and Clouds and Stars

This work was written originally in just two movements (Mountains and Rivers) for the great improvisational soloist Larry Karush, a friend of the composer. A concerto where the solo part is completely improvised, Karush premiered the two-movement version on June 6, 2008 with the Third Angle New Music Ensemble at Reed College. Following Karush's death from cancer in 2013, David Schiff added a third movement, Clouds and Stars, dedicated to Karush's memory, which premiered in February of 2014. While the accompaniment parts for the Mountains movement and the Clouds and Starts movement is more traditionally written-out, the accompaniment parts for the Rivers movement play instead from a performance score, and the instruments have flexibility in what lines they play. The duration of 40 minutes is an average, as much of the duration is dependent on the soloists.